Chemical Residue

1. Will washing and peeling produce get rid of the pesticides?

No. However, washing, peeling, and cooking is always a good idea and will reduce the amount of pesticides and bacteria in and on the produce.

2. Do you find a lot of pesticides in the produce you test?

No. Half of all produce tested is negative. The positives are usually only a fraction of the amount the EPA will allow, and only about 2% of the positives are over the EPA Tolerance.

3. What do you do when you find an Over Tolerance in produce?

We report it to the FDA, and they contact the grower so that they can correct any problem they may be having with pesticide application. If the produce is grown in SC, and we think it may be a threat to human life ,we can stop sale and confiscate the produce at the distribution site or warehouse.

4. What group of pesticides do you find most often and in what group of food?

We find fungicides most often. They keep your fruit and vegetables fresh and fungus-free, and we find more positives for fungicides in all types of fruit.

5. Is organic produce pesticide-free?

Not always. Buying organic does not always mean the produce is completely pesticide free, only that it should be less than 5% of the EPA allowed tolerance. However, the majority of organic produce that we test is negative for the 120 different pesticides that we screen for in our samples.